O2 Cleaning and Viz. Question

[scubapauly77]

I have 2 Steel HP100 tanks that I just made into doubles and had O2 cleaned for nitrox. I do my own visuals on my tanks (TDI Visual Inspection Procedures Instructor) but not the O2 cleaning.
My question is when I do the visuals on my tanks each year do I need to get them O2 cleaned also or as long as I dont contaminate them with dirty air they will be ok for O2?

 

[cbrich]

I clean my tanks every year when I do a VIP. But I have read other post where people clean their tanks only after hydro. Since you are doing your own filling, it only matters to you, but if you take your tanks to another dive shop, they might not fill them.

 

[Scared Silly]

I have 2 Steel HP100 tanks that I just made into doubles and had O2 cleaned for nitrox. I do my own visuals on my tanks (TDI Visual Inspection Procedures Instructor) but not the O2 cleaning.
My question is when I do the visuals on my tanks each year do I need to get them O2 cleaned also or as long as I dont contaminate them with dirty air they will be ok for O2?

I find your question odd. I understand it but what I find odd is that you would consider putting an O2 visual on a cylinder that you have not O2 cleaned yourself. In my mind that is verboten. So my first suggestion would be to learn to O2 clean the cylinders yourself.

Now to answer your question. Do you need to clean them each year? It all depends on their fill history and filling style. For instance, if all of my fills have been or are going to be preblended Nitrox I do not bother O2 cleaning. If I have to partial pressure blend then it really does depend on their history. The more often I have a questionable fill then greater chance I am going to O2 clean them.

 

[oxyhacker]

What is TDI teaching its visual inspectors? Even if they are not teaching O2 cleaning , I'd think this is a common inspection/stickering question that should have been covered in class. considering especially that combo visual/02 clean sticker are in general use now.

To answer the question, though, do you know the old saying "A lady doesn't bathe get clean, she bathes to stay clean"? Same is true for tanks, but yearly rather than daily. Admittedly a year is a pretty random interval, but it is what the industry has adopted, and, since contamination can't necessarily be spotted by visual inspection, reasonable.

If you are doing your own mixing then how clean the tank is is between you and the tank ,and you can go as long as you dare between cleanings, but if you are stickering or otherwise representing the tank as O2 clean, you better have cleaned it yourself.

I find your question odd. I understand it but what I find odd is that you would consider putting an O2 visual on a cylinder that you have not O2 cleaned yourself. In my mind that is verboten. So my first suggestion would be to learn to O2 clean the cylinders yourself.

 

[scubapauly77]

Im planning on taking the O2 cleaning course in June. My question was more for the future. I normally fill them pp but since there are times they will get filled pre mix. Whenever I do the yearly viz I'll do the clean. Better safe than sorry.
As for the tdi inspectors they do teach propper procedures for viz I was just asking more on the O2 cleaning side. Some places still use two separate stickers so the viz and o2 could be different.

Thanks for the responses.
Pauly.